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The Curious Case of Keith Lee

Now that the Superstar Shakeup has come and gone, it gives us a glimpse as to the changing landscape of not only WWE but NXT as well. What people tend to forget though, is it has a huge impact on the independent scene as well. With all of the callups to the main roster, NXT has no choice but to replace those lost with new talent.

We’ve already seen the debuts of EC3, Ricochet, and the renamed War Raiders, but there hasn’t been that earth-shaking, jaw-dropping signing to make everyone go “Wow”. Thankfully if the rumors are true, we will soon be basking in the glory of one of the Independents worst kept secrets, Keith Lee.

There had been whispers of Lee signing with WWE over a year ago, but they only recently started gaining traction. At first, there were a couple of cryptic tweets, followed up by a match at WWE Axess against Kassius Ohno. Over the past month or so he has dropped all of his titles, including the WWN World Title and PWG Title. Typically that’s a sign of someone fulfilling their obligations. Even more, fuel was added to the fire when he gave a farewell speech in AAW, a place he holds near and dear to his heart.

If the signing actually does happen, it will be quite an acquisition for NXT and WWE. Standing at 6’3″ and tipping the scales at over 325 pounds, Lee moves like a man half his size. His agility as a big man is unparalleled, and he is just as likely to execute a perfect tope as he is to gorilla press a man over his head.

His powerbomb has been known to break rings, and if any doubt exists about how strong Lee is, I would point all skeptics towards his match with Matt Riddle at PWG’s Neon Knights (find the show preview on Youtube, it is worth it.)

As to the question of where he would fit on the NXT roster, there are already a number of current stars that Lee has put on amazing matches with. The first is Ricochet, and I for one would love to see what the two of them could come up with. The other, however, is the one I’m most excited for, and that is with former tag partner Christopher Dijak. The two have faced off before, even earning a famous Five Star Rating from Dave Meltzer, for their match at PWG’S Battle of Los Angeles 2017. Some called it the match of the year, and the fact that they put it on even though the ring broke less than five minutes into the match, speaks volumes to the potential of both men.

This signing would reshape the landscape of NXT for the foreseeable future, and I can’t wait.